Santa Claus is coming to town

[afallenstar]

Who: Secret Santa participants, but also EVERYONE!
Where: Town Hall
When: Evening of day 24
What: Present giving! The Secret Santa reveal, and anyone who wants to have a christmas party is welcome to join too!
Notess: Party style thread guys, so go nuts. No order, everything is chaos, tag to your hearts content, feel free to break off into separate threads, and no spiking the punch! Also I think she's sort of mentioned it to a bunch of people but want to do me some lovely favours and handwave the actual name drawing? I will backtag if people want but it seems a little pointless to thread that out.


There's another message on the network that morning from Anna, just audio again. It's about as garbled as her first one regarding the Secret Santa idea, but for anyone who is listening closely enough they'll make out a few details. Namely this evening, town hall, and bring your presents before she shuts it off.

She's spent the rest of the day trying to do what she can to make the place look nicer. She's hardly got Christmas decorations on tap, but she's done what she can with what she has all the same. There's paper snow flakes up around the place, some of the food from her house placed in bowls to make it more party-appropriate, and it's no fir but she has relocated a small tree from the edge of the woods and placed it in the hall. Barely decorated, not even the right kind of tree, it's the best she can do with the resources she's been given.

Now all there is to do is wait for people to come.

Comments

[manofiron]

It’s galling to have to pull over a passerby and ask if that lucky person might be willing to get him a drink. His pride won’t let him do it, won’t let him be that openly weak in front of what would no doubt be a stranger when he can’t even feel comfortable being weak in front of his friends. But he’s thirsty, and his feet are starting to hurt from standing in one place for so long. There are only two options, try to get someone’s attention or go get it himself, and after a moment’s internal debate, he opts for the latter.

Not wishing to trip, fall, or walk headlong into someone else, Tony takes it slow, putting one careful foot in front of the other as he heads in the direction of the refreshments. At least, he’s hoping that there are refreshments. This party isn’t like those he’s used to attending. Still, he’s trying to keep an open mind.

And it works. For all of about forty-five seconds, until he walks right into someone.

“Oh, Jesus,” he apologizes, taking a stumbling half-step backward. “I’m sorry,”

[solidrighthook]

Peggy has her back to Tony, which is why she doesn't move out of his way as he approaches her. She's a little lost in her own world, honestly, not exactly overwhelmed by all the new faces at the town hall but certainly having to take a moment to process it all. It's getting harder to believe they're going to get back, and this is all so settled, it seems like people are getting comfortable here. It doesn't really sit so comfortably with her, being so new, but Steve's been so enthusiastic about it that she can't help but try to get into the spirit.

The atmosphere certainly helps, people seem to be enjoying themselves and its hard to stay out of the festivities when everyone else is getting into it, which is why she decides to get herself a drink. It's when she's doing that that someone collides with her back, and she turns with a smile as she holds her drink away from her, careful to avoid spilling it on herself as her own apology already forms on her lips.

And then dies immediately, because really, Steve warned her but looking at Tony all she can see is Howard, and that's incredibly disconcerting.

"Oh. That..." She shakes her head quickly, pulls herself together and continues in a much more collected, far less surprised manner, "That's quite alright, I wasn't paying attention."

[manofiron]

Oh. It's her.

He recognizes the accent immediately, unconsciously straightening up a little further as he wishes, somewhat futility, for another earthquake to hit and swallow him into the ground. She hasn't been anything but pleasant to him, during the few times he's encountered her. She isn't rude. She certainly hasn't done anything to earn his avoidance. But he still thinks that he can hear her judging him.

Howard would have never been so clumsy. Howard wouldn't have been so stupid as to have lost his sight in the first place. And Howard would, if not have found a way out of this mess by now, certainly would be closer to it than Tony.

"No, it was me. Definitely my fault. Sorry." He hates the inferiority that makes him so quick to apologize, but there's nothing he can do about it. It's one thing to spend his life trying to combat a ghost. It's quite another to be relegated to the role himself. Taking another step backward, already retreating, he dips his head in a tiny bow. "Merry Christmas. Enjoy the party."